Special thanks to Frank Kirchner for providing this lens for testing purposes!

Introduction

The Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 completes the local tests of the classic Canon wide
angle fix-focals. The lens was first released in 1987 so it is as old as the
EOS system itself.
On APS-C DSLRs the field-of-view is
equivalent to 45mm so it can almost be considered as a standard lens here.

The lens is a rather simple being with just 5 elements in 5 groups including one molded
aspherical element. The aperture mechanism features 5 blades. With a min.
focus distance of 0.3m the max. object magnification is about 1:8. It´s really
a miniature lens with a size of just 67x42mm and a weight of 185g. The filter
size is 52mm.

The build quality of the lens is quite decent with good quality plastics.
The inner lens tube extends a little when focusing towards closer distances
but the front element does not rotate - using a polarizer is therefore no
problem. The focus ring operation isn't all that impressive - typical
for many Canon lenses of that era it feels a little scratchy. Thanks to
the small number of elements the AF is very fast despite its conventional
micro motor.